Mary Pierce

Country	France
Residence	Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
Born	(1975-01-15) 15 January 1975 (age 37) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Turned pro	March 1989
Retired	Active
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$9,793,119
Singles
Career record	511–237
Career titles	18 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 3 (30 January 1995)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (1995)
French Open	W (2000)
Wimbledon	QF (1996, 2005)
US Open	F (2005)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	QF (2004)
Doubles
Career record	197–116
Career titles	10 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 3 (10 July 2000)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	F (2000)
French Open	W (2000)
Wimbledon	3R (2002, 2004)
US Open	SF (1999)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1993)
French Open	QF (1990, 1992)
Wimbledon	W (2005)
US Open	SF (1995)
Last updated on: 15 January 2007.

Mary Pierce (born 15 January 1975, in Montreal, Canada) is a French-American tennis professional playing on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. She is a citizen of France, Canada, and the United States but plays for France in team competitions and the Olympics.

Pierce has won four Grand Slam titles, two in singles and two in doubles. She has reached six Grand Slam singles finals, most recently at the US Open and French Open in 2005. Her Grand Slam singles titles came at the 1995 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open. She won the 2005 Wimbledon mixed doubles championship and has reached three Grand Slam doubles finals. She has won 18 WTA singles titles and 10 WTA doubles titles, including five Tier I singles events. She also has twice reached the final of the season-ending WTA Tour Championships, most recently in 2005.

Personal[link]

Pierce was born in Montreal, Canada to Yannick and Jim Pierce. Yannick is French and Jim is American, qualifying Mary for citizenship in all three countries. She was raised in the United States. She has represented France in international tennis competitions many times. She speaks English and French fluently. Mary was previously engaged to baseball player Roberto Alomar and then later to Air France pilot David Emmanuel Ades, but broke off both engagements.

Early career[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2008)

Pierce was introduced to tennis at the age of 10 by her father Jim Pierce. Just two years later, she won the U.S. national 12-and-under junior title. In 1989, she became the youngest American player to make her debut on the professional tour, aged 14 years and 2 months. (This record was broken the following year by Jennifer Capriati.) She quickly gained a reputation for being one of the all-time hardest hitters on the women's circuit. Her dad was her coach for many years.

1994–2003[link]

In July 1993, Pierce successfully filed for a restraining order against her father, who was known to be verbally abusive to his daughter and her opponents. Following this split from her father, Pierce was coached by Nick Bollettieri, whose tennis academy she had briefly attended as a teenager in 1988. Her brother David was also Pierce's regular coach until 2006.

Pierce reached her first Grand Slam singles final at the 1994 French Open. She conceded just 10 games during her route to the final, which included a 6–2, 6–2 defeat of World No. 1 Steffi Graf in the semifinals. In the final, however, Pierce lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in straight sets 6–4, 6–4.^[1]

The following year, Pierce won her first Grand Slam title by defeating Sánchez-Vicario 6–3, 6–2 in the final of the 1995 Australian Open and lost just 30 games in the whole tournament. She reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 that year. Pierce also won the Japan Open, defeating Sánchez Vicario in the final.

Pierce suffered a series of setbacks in 1996, including her split with Nick Bollettieri after failing to defend her title at the Australian Open. Aside from a runner-up finish at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida and a semifinal finish in Hamburg, the highlight of the year for Pierce was her first appearance in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Pierce was back in the Australian Open singles final in 1997, where she lost to Martina Hingis in straight sets. She also lost in that year's Chase Championships final to Jana Novotná. Pierce was a member of the French team that won the 1997 Fed Cup, and her only title that season was the Italian Open, defeating Conchita Martínez in the final. Pierce won the Comeback Player of the Year award for ending the year at World No. 7 after starting at World No. 21.

Pierce won four titles in 1998: the Open Gaz de France in Paris, the Bausch & Lomb Championships, the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, and the Fortis Championships Luxembourg. In addition, she was the runner-up at the Acura Classic in San Diego.

Pierce won her second Grand Slam singles title and her first Grand Slam doubles title at the 2000 French Open. In the singles final, she defeated Martínez to become the first French woman to claim the title since Françoise Durr in 1967. And she partnered with Hingis to win the women's doubles crown. (The pair also were the runners-up at the Australian Open earlier that year.)

Pierce helped France win the Fed Cup for a second time in 2003.

2004–2005[link]

After a few quiet years on the tour, Pierce won her first title since the 2000 French Open at the Ordina Open on grass, in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands in 2004. At the Olympics in Athens, Pierce defeated sixth-seeded Venus Williams in the third round 6–4, 6–4 before losing to top-seeded and eventual Gold-medallist Justine Henin of Belgium in the quarterfinals by the same score. At the US Open later in the year, Pierce defeated the new Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.

Pierce then made it back into the top ranks of the women's game in 2005. At the French Open, she reached the singles final for the third time, where she lost to Henin in straight sets in a crushing 6–1 6–1 defeat. She then reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time since 1996. Pierce faced Venus Williams in that quarterfinal and lost the match after a second set tiebreak consisting of 22 points. Pierce also won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, partnering Mahesh Bhupathi. In August, Pierce won her first singles title of the year at the Acura Classic in San Diego, defeating Ai Sugiyama in the final.

Pierce then reached the final of the 2005 US Open. In the fourth round, she defeated Henin for the first time in her career 6–3, 6–4. In the quarterfinals, Pierce defeated third seeded Amélie Mauresmo 6–4, 6–1 to reach her first US Open semifinal. After the victory, Pierce remarked, "I'm 30 and I have been on the tour for 17 years and there are still firsts for me. That's pretty amazing." She reached the final by defeating Elena Dementieva 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 in the semifinals, taking a medical time-out after the first set. This caused controversy, many believing that this disrupted Dementieva's rhythm and concentration. In the final, she lost to Kim Clijsters in straight sets. After the US Open, Pierce won her second title of the year at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. In her quarterfinal match against Russian Elena Likhovtseva, Pierce came back from 0–6 in the third set tiebreak (6 match points down) and won 8 consecutive points to reach the semifinals. The final score of the match was 7–5, 4–6, 7–6.

The win in Moscow secured her spot at the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles where the top eight singles players in the world competed for the winner's prize of one million dollars. In round-robin play with her assigned group of four players, she won all three matches: against Clijsters in three sets; Mauresmo in three sets; and Dementieva in straight sets. In the semifinals, Pierce beat top-ranked Lindsay Davenport 7–6, 7–6; however, Pierce lost the final to Mauresmo in just over three hours.

Pierce's year-end ranking was World No. 5 compared to her year-beginning ranking of World No. 29. This matched her career-best performances of 1994, 1995, and 1999, and she was less than 200 points behind Sharapova for World No. 4 and less than 300 points behind Mauresmo for World No. 3. Pierce's return to form in 2005 was one of the most surprising tennis stories of the year. Her successful performance in 2005 also encouraged the former World No. 1 player, Martina Hingis, to return to the game.

2006[link]

Pierce trained hard in the off-season in a bid to win major titles in 2006. Her first tournament of the year was the Australian Open. She defeated Nicole Pratt of Australia 6–1, 6–1 in the first round before losing to Iveta Benešová of the Czech Republic in the second round 6–3, 7–5. The loss denied her a third-round match with Martina Hingis. Pierce reached the final of her next tournament, the Gaz de France in Paris, where she lost to compatriot Amélie Mauresmo in straight sets. Pierce did not play again until August because of foot and groin injuries, withdrawing from the French Open and Wimbledon.

After spending six months away from the tour, Pierce began her comeback at the Acura Classic in San Diego, where she was the 2005 champion. She lost in the quarterfinals to Maria Sharapova 6–2, 6–3. In just her second tournament in over six months, Pierce played at the US Open. Pierce lost to Na Li, the 24th seed from China, in the third round 4–6, 6–0, 6–0. Pierce then lost in the first round of the next three tournaments she played. She was defeated at the Fortis Championships Luxembourg by Alona Bondarenko 6–3, 6–3, who went on to win the title. Jelena Janković defeated Pierce in Stuttgart 7–6, 6–3. And Katarina Srebotnik defeated Pierce at the Zurich Open 6–3, 7–5.

Knee injury[link]

At the Generali Ladies Linz tournament in October 2006, Pierce defeated Ai Sugiyama in the first round and was leading Vera Zvonareva 6–4, 6–5 in the second round when Pierce ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. She had held three match points before the injury.

Pierce underwent a successful operation in December 2006 and missed all of 2007. She expected to return to the tour in 2008. At the end of 2008, she was still sidelined with no projected return date. However, she stated that she was still not ready to retire.^[2]

Pierce made an appearance at the 2007 French Open as an avenue at Roland Garros was named in her honor – Allée Mary Pierce. She also helped with the social side to the French Open, taking part in the post-match ceremony after the women's final.

Pierce was named as a member of the French Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On 21 July 2008, however, Pierce withdrew from the Olympics because of injury.^[3]

Major finals[link]

Grand Slam finals[link]

Singles: 6 finals (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1994	French Open	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 6–4
Winner	1995	Australian Open	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	1997	Australian Open	Hard	Martina Hingis	6–2, 6–2
Winner	2000	French Open	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–2, 7–5
Runner-up	2005	French Open (2)	Clay	Justine Henin-Hardenne	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	2005	US Open	Hard	Kim Clijsters	6–3, 6–1

Women's Doubles: 2 finals (1 title, 1 runner-up)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	2000	Australian Open	Hard	Martina Hingis	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 5–7, 6–4
Winner	2000	French Open	Clay	Martina Hingis	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–2, 6–4

Mixed Doubles: 1 final (1 title, 0 runner-ups)[link]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	2005	Wimbledon	Grass	Mahesh Bhupathi	Tatiana Perebiynis Paul Hanley	6–4, 6–2

Year-End Championships finals[link]

Singles: 2 finals (0 titles, 2 runner-ups)[link]

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1997	New York City	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	7–6(7–4), 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	2005	Los Angeles	Hard (i)	Amélie Mauresmo	5–7, 7–6(7–3), 6–4

WTA Tour finals (57)[link]

Singles (18–23)[link]

Outcome	No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	14 July 1991	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Sandra Cecchini	6–0, 6–3
Winner	2.	23 February 1992	Cesena, Italy	Carpet (i)	Catherine Tanvier	6–1, 6–1
Winner	3.	12 July 1992	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Brenda Schultz	6–1, 6–7(3–7), 6–1
Winner	4.	1 November 1992	San Juan, Puerto Rico	Hard	Gigi Fernández	6–1, 7–5
Runner-up	1.	11 July 1993	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Radka Bobková	6–3, 6–2
Winner	5.	17 October 1993	Filderstadt, Germany	Hard (i)	Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	2.	27 March 1994	Houston, USA	Clay	Sabine Hack	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	5 June 1994	French Open, Paris	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	2 October 1994	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	7–5, 6–1
Runner-up	5.	16 October 1994	Filderstadt, Germany	Hard (i)	Anke Huber	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	6.	13 November 1994	Philadelphia, USA	Carpet (i)	Anke Huber	6–0, 6–7(4–7), 7–5
Winner	6.	28 January 1995	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	7.	19 February 1995	Paris, France (Paris Open)	Carpet (i)	Steffi Graf	6–2, 6–2
Winner	7.	24 September 1995	Tokyo, Japan (Nichirei Int'l)	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	8.	8 October 1995	Zurich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Iva Majoli	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	9.	14 April 1996	Amelia Island, USA	Clay	Irina Spîrlea	6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	10.	25 January 1997	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Martina Hingis	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	11.	13 April 1997	Amelia Island, USA	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	6–2, 6–3
Winner	8.	11 May 1997	Rome, Italy	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–4, 6–0
Runner-up	12.	18 May 1997	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Mary Joe Fernandez	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	13.	23 November 1997	Chase Championships, New York City	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	7–6(7–4), 6–2, 6–3
Winner	9.	15 February 1998	Paris, France (Paris Open)	Carpet (i)	Dominique Van Roost	6–3, 7–5
Winner	10.	12 April 1998	Amelia Island, USA	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–7(8–10), 6–0, 6–2
Runner-up	14.	9 August 1998	San Diego, USA	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	6–3, 6–1
Winner	11.	25 October 1998	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Monica Seles	7–6(7–2), 6–3
Winner	12.	31 October 1998	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Carpet (i)	Silvia Farina	6–0, 2–0 ret.
Runner-up	15.	9 January 1999	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	Patty Schnyder	4–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Runner-up	16.	2 May 1999	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Venus Williams	6–0, 6–3
Runner-up	17.	9 May 1999	Rome, Italy	Clay	Venus Williams	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	18.	10 October 1999	Filderstadt, Germany	Hard (i)	Martina Hingis	6–4, 6–1
Winner	13.	31 October 1999	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Sandrine Testud	7–6(7–2), 6–1
Winner	14.	23 April 2000	Hilton Head Island, USA	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–1, 6–0
Winner	15.	10 June 2000	French Open, Paris	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–2, 7–5
Runner-up	19.	15 February 2004	Paris, France (Gaz de France)	Carpet (i)	Kim Clijsters	6–2, 6–1
Winner	16.	19 June 2004	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Klára Koukalová	7–6(8–6), 6–2
Runner-up	20.	4 June 2005	French Open, Paris	Clay	Justine Henin-Hardenne	6–1, 6–1
Winner	17.	7 August 2005	San Diego, USA	Hard	Ai Sugiyama	6–0, 6–3
Runner-up	21.	10 September 2005	US Open, New York City	Hard	Kim Clijsters	6–3, 6–1
Winner	18.	16 October 2005	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Francesca Schiavone	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	22.	13 November 2005	Sony Ericsson Championships, Los Angeles	Hard (i)	Amélie Mauresmo	5–7, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
Runner-up	23.	12 February 2006	Paris, France (Gaz de France)	Carpet (i)	Amélie Mauresmo	6–1, 7–6(7–2)

Doubles (10)[link]

No.	Date	Location	Partner	Opponents	Score
1.	14 July 1991	Palermo, Italy	Petra Langrová	Laura Garrone Mercedes Paz	6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–3
2.	22 September 1996	Tokyo, Japan (Nichirei Int'l)	Amanda Coetzer	Sung-Hee Park Shi-Ting Wang	6–1, 7–6(7–5)
3.	4 May 1997	Hamburg, Germany	Anke Huber	Ruxandra Dragomir Iva Majoli	2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–2
4.	12 April 1998	Amelia Island, USA	Sandra Cacic	Barbara Schett Patty Schnyder	7–6(7–5), 4–6, 7–6(7–5)
5.	25 October 1998	Moscow, Russia	Natasha Zvereva	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–3, 6–4
6.	22 August 1999	Toronto, Canada	Jana Novotná	Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
7.	7 November 1999	Leipzig, Germany	Larisa Neiland	Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama	6–4, 6–3
8.	6 February 2000	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open)	Martina Hingis	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 6–1
9.	11 June 2000	French Open, Paris	Martina Hingis	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–2, 6–4
10.	10 August 2003	Los Angeles, USA	Rennae Stubbs	Elena Bovina Els Callens	6–3, 6–3

No.	Date	Location	Partner	Opponents	Score
1.	2 December 1990	São Paulo, Brazil	Luanne Spadea	Bettina Fulco Eva Švíglerová	7–5, 6–4
2.	15 November 1992	Philadelphia, USA	Conchita Martínez	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 6–3
3.	20 February 1994	Paris, France (Paris Open)	Andrea Temesvári	Sabine Appelmans Laurence Courtois	6–4, 6–4
4.	15 January 2000	Sydney, Australia	Martina Hingis	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	6–0, 6–3
5.	28 January 2000	Australian Open, Melbourne	Martina Hingis	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 5–7, 6–4
6.	21 June 2003	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Nadia Petrova	Elena Dementieva Lina Krasnoroutskaya	2–6, 6–3, 6–4

Major tournament singles performance timeline[link]

Key

Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series).

• A=did not participate in the tournament
• SR=the ratio of the number of tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

WTA Tour career earnings[link]

Record against other top players[link]

As of 11 November 2010 Pierce's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked World No. 10 or higher is as follows:^[4] Players who have been ranked World No. 1 are in boldface.

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2011)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mary Pierce

• Mary Pierce at the Women's Tennis Association
• Fed Cup record
• Mary Pierce at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009)

Lindsay Davenport

Country	United States
Residence	Laguna Beach, California
Born	(1976-06-08) June 8, 1976 (age 36) Palos Verdes, California
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	174 lb (79 kg; 12.4 st)
Turned pro	1993
Retired	2011
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	US$22,144,735[1] (4th in all-time rankings)
Singles
Career record	753–194 (79.5%)
Career titles	55
Highest ranking	No. 1 (October 12, 1998)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (2000)
French Open	SF (1998)
Wimbledon	W (1999)
US Open	W (1998)
Other tournaments
Championships	W (1999)
Olympic Games	Gold medal (1996)
Doubles
Career record	382–115
Career titles	38 (1 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (October 20, 1997)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	F (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005)
French Open	W (1996)
Wimbledon	W (1999)
US Open	W (1997)
Last updated on: April 14, 2008.

Olympic medal record
Women's tennis
Competitor for the  United States
Gold	1996 Atlanta	Women's singles

Lindsay Ann Davenport (born June 8, 1976 in Palos Verdes, California) is a former World No. 1 American professional tennis player. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal in singles. In 2005, TENNIS Magazine ranked her as the 29th-best player of the preceding forty years. She is one of only four women (the others are Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert) since 1975 who has been the year-end world no. 1 at least four times, and was ranked world no. 1 on eight different occasions. Davenport finished 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005 as the top-ranked player. She was coached most of her career by Robert Van't Hof.

Early and personal life[link]

Davenport is the daughter of Wink Davenport, who was a member of the U.S. volleyball team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and Ann Davenport. She attended both Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California and Murrieta Valley High School in Murrieta, California.